PE 

114-3 
F39s 
cop»2 


■;•■    y>  "       ■   '  - 


:.n\ 


-% 


A 

A 

0 
0 
0 


0 

1 

3 


Fernald 

A 

Study 

in  the  Psychology 
of  Spelling 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


,  ;  r  -^    ••••.•   T«*  •  *-^**   - •••  '    ...*.' 


qo 


A  STUDY  IN  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPELLING. 

Grace  M.  Fernai<d,   Ph.D. 

Introductory  statement. 

During  the  last  four  years  we  have  examined  -over  three  hun- 
dred  cases  of  very  poor  spellers.  Of  the  group  studied,  six 
were  instructors  in  colleges  or  normal  schools,  twenty  were 
normal  school  students,  twenty-five  were  high  school  students, 
four  were  adults  not  connected  with  the  schools,  and  the  rest 
were  grade  school  children.  Throughout  the  last  year  the 
work  has  been  done  with  groups  of  children  in  classes. 

In  the  individual  work  with  special  cases,  the  subject  was 
first  tested  to  determine  the  subject's  general  mentality,  as 
mental  deficiency  would  obviously  be  one  possible  cause  of  his 
inability  to  spell.  This  step  zvas  omitted  when  the  mentality 
zcas  obviously  of  a  high  type.  In  case  the  subject  proved  to  be 
mentally  normal,  special  tests  were  made  to  determine  whether 
he  possessed  any  striking  mental  peculiarities.  These  tests 
were  given  with  the  idea  that  there  must  be  some  difference 
between  the  normally  bright  child  who  works  hard  and  yet  fails 
to  get  his  spelling  and  the  normally  bright  child  who  gets  it 
easily. 

The  second  division  of  our  work  consisted  in  the  attempt  to 
teach  the  individual  to  spell.  We  are  indebted  to  the  city 
teachers  in  Los  Angeles  and  Pasadena  for  assistance  in  testing 
out  the  methods  suggested,  and  to  Miss  MacKenzie  and  Mrs. 
Preston  of  the  training  department  of  the  Los  Angeles  State 
Normal  School  for  suggestions  concerning  the  incorporation  of 
these  methods  into  the  plan  for  general  clas.?  instruction. 

We  wish  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  the  best  results  with  the 
method  have  been  obtained  by  regular  city  teachers  and  that 
they  all  agree  in  the  report  that  the  poor  spellers  learn  to  spell, 
after  the  method  has  been  employed.  The  plan,  as  outlined  at 
the  end  of  the  paper,  is  the  same  in  many  details  as  that  now  in 
use  among  the  best  teachers  of  spelling.  It  includes  certain 
modifications  which  adapt  it  to  the  needs  of  the  poor  spellers 
without  hindering  the  learning  ])rocess  in  I  he  case  of  the  good 


spellers. 


2— 20U.'):i 


J 


455^ 

rJ)^ »  T  r-ot 


UNIVERSITY  o9^CALIFOKNT3^ 


AT 


% 

II.     Imagery  tests. 

As  our  most  interesting-  results,  and  those  of  the  greatest " 
assistance  to  us  in  solving  our  problem,  were  obtained  with  the 
imagery  tests,  a  somewhat  detailed  description  will  be  given  of 
these  tests. 

In  a  later  paper  we  expect  to  take  up  the  discussion  of  the 
psychology  of  imagery  and  to  give  an  analysis  of  our  test 
results.  It  may  be  well  to  remind  the  reader  that  any  indi- 
vidual belongs  to  one  of  the  following  imagery  types :  visual, 
auditory,  motor  or  mixed ;  the  last  being  a  combination  of  any 
two  or  more  of  the  preceding  groups.  That  is,  some  people 
recall  past  experiences  in  terms  of  visual  images,  others 
auditory,  etc.  For  example,  in  recalling  music  some  people 
would  get  a  visual  image  of  the  notes  as  written  on  the  sheet, 
while  others  would  have  to  recall  the  sound  of  the  music,  and 
still  others  would  feel  themselves"  making  the  movements  of 
playing.  What  is  true  of  music  is  true  of  anything  we  recall. 
A  knowledge  of  the  psychology  of  imagery  is  essential  for  an 
understanding  of  what  follows. 

DESCRIPTION   OF   TESTS. 

One  very  good  test  for  small  children  is  the  old  game  of 
memory  for  objects.  About  twenty  objects  were  placed  on  a 
table  and  covered  with  a  cloth.  When  the  children  were 
ready  the  cloth  was  removed  for  from  twenty  to  thirty  seconds, 
while  the  children  attempted  to  fix  the  objects  in  their  minds. 
The  table  was  then  covered  again  and  the  children  wrote  the 
names  of  the  objects  or  drew  pictures  of  them. 

The  children  were  then  asked  how  they  remembered  the 
objects,  w^hether  they  got  pictures  of  them  in  their  minds  or 
said  the  names  of  the  objects  over  to  themselves.  The  writer 
W'as  at  first  very  skeptical  concerning  the  ability  of  children  to 
perform  such  introspection,  but  she  has  been  forced  to  admit 
that  children  are  capable  of  giving  remarkably  accurate  infor- 
mation concerning  their  own  imagery  processes.  The  practical 
results  alone  would  justify  this  conclusion. 

For  children  above  the  third  grade  the  following  tests  sug- 
gested by  Professors  Colvin  and  Meyer,  and  somewhat  modified 
for  our  present  purpose,  were  found  to  be  very  valuable. 

Figure  I  was  drawn  in  heavy  crayon  on  a  sheet  of  cardboard. 
The  children  made  a  copy  of  this  on  their  papers.     On  a  screen 

(4) 


2.2  by  28  inches  was  a  similar  figure,  and  in  each  of  the  angles 
and  spaces  were  meaningless  characters  (Fig.  2).  The  subject 
was  allowed  to  look  at  Figure  2  for  twenty  seconds  if  in  a 
grade  below^  the  fifth,  and  for  fifteen  seconds  if  in  or  above  the 
fifth  grade.  The  screen  was  then  removed  and  the  subject  was 
asked  to  make  his  figure  look  like  the  second  figure. 
The  same  experiment  was  repeated  with  Figure  3. 


II 


H 


R 


M 


A       O       V 


III 


Fig.  1. 


K 


Fig.  2. 


Fig.  3. 


In  each  case  the  subject  was  asked  to  discover  if  possible 
whether  the  memory  process  was  in  terms  of  visual  or  auditory 
or  motor  imagery — whether  he  got  a  "picture"  of  the  figure  or 
repeated  the  names  of  the  parts  to  himself  or  felt  himself 
making  the  figures.  In  some  cases  the  lip  and  hand  movements 
were  evident  to  the  experimenter. 

The  following  test  was  found  particularly  valuable  as  an 
introspective  exercise  for  older  children  and  adults  : 

A  paper  was  prepared  with  a  letter  square  printed  upon  it 
(see  Fig.  4).     The  pupil  was  shown  a  card  with  Figure  5  on  it. 


M     X     C  S 

S      C     X  M 

X     M     S  C 

C      S     ]\I  X 

Fig.  4. 


s 


X 


M 


M 

X 

V        .s 

S 

c 

X         M 

X 

M 

s       c 

c 

8 

.M        X 

Fig.  5. 


Fig.  6. 


Careful  explanation  is  made  of  the  fact  that  certain  angles 

belong  to  certain  letters,  for  example  [  belongs  to  S  so  that 

S  would  be  enclosed  as  follows, _SJ.  In  the  same  way  f 
belongs  to  X,  making  it  X[,  etc. 

When  it  is  certain  that  the  subject  understands  Figure  %  he 
is  told  to  learn  it,  and  is  allowed  as  long  a  time  as  he  wishes  for 

(5) 


the  process.  When  he  is  sure  that  he  knows  Figure  5,  Figure  4 
is  substituted  for  it  and  he  is  told  to  enclose  the  letters  in  the 
angles  that  belong  to  them,  lie  is  instructed  to  go  straight 
down  the  first  row.  cover  that  as  soon  as  he  has  finished  it,  and 
proceed  to  the  second.  It  is  very  important  that  the  child  cover 
the  row  as  soon  as  he  has  filled  in  the  figure,  or  he  will  be  sure 
to  copy  from  the  figures  already  completed.  Figure  6  shows 
the  letters  properly  enclosed,  and  it  should  not  be  used  until  the 
test  is  over. 

The  test  is  difficult,  as  the  child  must  not  only  retain  the 
image,  but  he  nnist  analyze  it.  The  test  is  almost  certain  to 
bring  out  auditory  imagery  if  the  subject  ever  uses  it.  Lip  and 
hand  movements  are  very  evident  in  many  cases. 

Many  other  tests,  such  as  nonsense  syllables,  series  of  digits, 
the  Binet  figures,  the  spelling  of  words  backward  from  the 
memory  image,  the  code  test,  etc.,  were  used,  but  space  will  not 
permit  a  full  description  of  them. 

2.  Results  of  Work  with  Imagery  Tests. 

The  result  of  all  this  work  with  imagery  tests  was  the  sur- 
prising discovery  that,  with  few  exceptions/;^poor  spellers  who 
were  not  mentally  defective,  were  of  the  extreme  auditory  type 
of  imagery;  that  is,  they  recall  past  experiences  in  terms  of 
auditory  rather  than  visual  images.  In  the  case  of  memory  for 
words,  they  must  hear  either  the  words  or  the  letters ;  they  are 
unable  to  get  a  visual  image  of  the  word  or  the  letters  that 
make  it  up. 

3.  Discussion  of  Sigiiificaiice  of  Results  of  Imagerv  Tests. 

Many  teachers  have  assured  me  that  they  have  been  giving 
the  work  for  some  time  in  such  a  way  as  to  appeal  to  all  types 
of  imagery :  that  they  present  the  word  visually  for  the  "eye- 
minded"  child,  orally  (give  oral  spelling)  for  the  "ear-minded" 
child,  and  have  the  children  write  it  for  the  sake  of  the  motor 
child. 

A  peculiar  psychological  fallacy  has  crept  into  the  problem 
here.  It  has  been  taken  for  granted  that  the  child  is  of  the 
imagery  type  corresponding  to  the  type  of  the  sensory  stimulus 
zvhich  he  apperceives  most  readily;  that  is,  if  he  learns  a  thing 
best  when  he  sees  it,  he  is  of  the  visual  imagery  type,  and  has  a 
memory  image  of  the  object  in  the  form  of  a  mental  picture; 

(6) 


if  he  gets  the  results  best  when  something  is  presented  in  such 
a  way  that  he  liears  it,  then  he  is  of  the  auditory  type  of 
imagery,  and  remembers  in  the  form  of  word  or  sound  images ; 
if  he  gets  the  best  results  when  he  expresses  the  thing  in  terms 
of  his  own  movements,  then  he  is  of  the  motor  type  of  imagery. 
Consequently  the  teacher  believes  that  she  is  appealing  to  the 
various  types  when  she  is  having  words  written  on  the  board, 
spelled  orally,  and  written  by  each  of  the  children.  I  might 
say  that  the  last  mentioned  method  of  presentation,  which  is 
really  the  most  important,  is  most  often  neglected. 

Now,  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  child  may  apperceive  a  visual 
stimulus  much  more  readily  than  he  does  an  auditory,  and  yet 
translate  the  stimulus  at  once  into  auditory  or  auditory-motor 
terms  and  retain  the  contents  of  this  form.  In  the  case  of 
spelling,  he  may  learn  the  word  better  from  a  visual  than  from 
an  auditory  stimulus,  although  he  is  saying  the  word  or  the 
letters  of  the  word  to  himself  all  the  while  he  is  looking  at  the 
word,  and  although  it  is  the  auditory  image  thus  created,  which 
he  retains,  and  not  the  original  impression. 

The  advantage  of  the  visual  over  the  auditory  stimulus  in 
many  cases  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the  visual  stimulus 
is  usually  more  stable,  and  does  not  have  a  fixed  rate  of  pass- 
ing, as  does  the  auditory  stimulus.  With  the  visual  stimulus, 
the  individual  sets  his  own  mental  pace,  as  it  were. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  problem  of  appealing  to  the 
various  imagery  types  has  not  been  met  in  the  least  degree  by 
presenting  the  zcord  as  a  visual,  an  auditory,  and  a  motor 
stimulus. 

A  further  analysis  shows  that  the  oral  spelling,  instead  of 
aiding  the  auditory  child,  actually  hinders  him.  The  child  who 
gets  a  clear  visual  image  of  the  word  has  the  representation  of 
the  word  as  a  whole  before  him  while  he  is  either  spelling  it 
orally  or  writing  it.  His  visual  image  is  not  interfered  with  by 
the  process  of  saying  the  letters  aloud  or  to  himself.  The  child 
whose  control  image  is  auditory,  on  the  other  hand,  can  not 
hear  the  word  as  a  whole  at  the  same  time  that  he  hears  the 
separate  letters,  when  he  is  attempting  either  to"  say  the  letters 
to  himself  or  to  spell  the  word  aloud. 

It  is  an  easy  matter  for  the  reader  to  illustrate  this  point  to 
himself  if  he  will  attempt  to  spell  a  word  letter  by  letter  and  to 
hear  the  word  as  a  whole  at  the  saiiir  time,  or  even  to  hear  the 

(7) 


word  as  a  whole  and  at  the  same  time  follow  the  letters  as  the 
word  is  spelled  aloud  by  another  person.  It  will  be  found  that 
one  auditory  process  interferes  with  the  other. 

The  result  of  this  peculiarity  of  the  auditory  image  is  that  the 
auditory  child  says  the  word  and  then  attempts  to  spell  it  with- 
out any  controlling-  image  of  the  word  as  a  whole.  Conse- 
quently he  puts  the  letters  of  the  word  together  in  almost  any 
order,  leaves  out  letters  and  syllables,  and  finally  becomes  so 
hopelessly  confused  that  he  does  not  know  what  he  is  attempt- 
ing to  spell. 

The  difficulty  is  due  to  the  fact  that  as  soon  as  he  begins  to 
say  the  letters  of  the  word  over  to  himself  or  to  spell  the  word 
aloud,  the  image  of  the  word  as  a  whole  is  lost.  A  high  school 
boy  who  was  a  very  good  student  but  an  astonishing  speller 
pronounced  the  word  "familiar"  correctly  and  then  proceeded 
to  spell  it  "fimaler" ;  "opportunity"  he  spelled  "opertunity," 
"persevere"  he  wrote  "presevere,"  etc.  He  said  he  did  not  look 
words  up  in  the  dictionary  because  he  could  not  find  them. 
Other  illustrations  from  our  papers  are :  "buisness"  for  "busi- 
ness," "propily"  for  "properly,"  "apperate"  for  "appreciate," 
"imagian"  for  "imagine,"  "conceence"  for  "conscientious," 
"elegiance"  for  "allegiance."  The  latter  illustrations  are  taken 
at  random  from  cases  we  worked  with  in  the  eighth  grade.  In 
every  instance  except  perhaps  "business,"  a  control  image  of 
the  word  as  a  whole  would  have  made  the  mistake  impossible — 
did  in  fact  make  such  mistakes  impossible  when  a  method  was 
acquired  by  these  same  children  which  gave  them  a  control 
image  of  the  word  while  it  was  being  written. 

An  analysis  of  the  facts  already  presented  makes  it  evident 
that  the  three  factors  essential  for  the  most  effective  teaching  of 
spelling  are :  first,  the  discovery  by  the  individual  himself  of  his 
own  mental  type;  second,  the  formation  of  a  clear  image  of  the 
word  in  terms  of  this  mental  type;  and  finally,  attention  to  the 
image  during  the  process  of  zuriting  the  zvord.  It  appears 
further  that  any  form  of  oral  spelling  is  distinctly  had  for  the 
child  of  the  auditory  type. 

With  reference  to  this  last  point,  it  is  obvious  that  spelling- 
functions  only  when  one  wishes  to  express  oneself  in  written 
form.  Consequently,  unless  it  can  be  shown  that  oral  spelling 
is  a  real  aid  to  the  acquiring  of  skill  in  the  correct  spelling  of 
written  words,  there  is  no  justification  for  employing  it. 

(8) 


The  following  facts  seem  to  argue  against  the  vakie  of  oral 


ip- 


spelling 

(i)  The  fact  that  an  individual  has  acquired  skill  in  one  set 
of  motor  reactions  does  not  necessarily  mean  that  he  can  trans- 
fer that  skill  to  some  other  reaction.  For  example,  it  is  fre- 
quently the  case  that  a  child  will  spell  a  word  orally  quite  cor- 
rectly and  be  unable  to  write  it  correctly. 

(2)  As  has  already  been  said,  oral  spelling  dispels  the  only 
image  of  the  word  as  such  which  the  auditory  child  is  able 


to  get. 


(3)  The  visual  child  does  not  need  to  go  through  the  process 
of  auditory  spelling,  as  he  has  the  letters  represented  in  his 
visual  image  of  the  word. 

(4)  The  results  of  experiments  with  individual  cases  and 
with  classes  of  children  from  the  third  to  the  eighth  grades  all 
show  better  results  when  oral  spelling  is  omitted.  The  class 
experiments  referred  to  seem  to  the  writer  the  strongest  argu- 
ment against  oral  spelling,  as  these  experiments  were  made  by 
experienced  and  successful  city  and  training  school  teachers, 
who  in  some  cases  began  the  work  with  the  conviction  that  it 
was  a  mistake  to  omit  oral  spelling. 

HI.     Method  of  teaching  spelling. 

We  shall  now  proceed  to  give  a  detailed  account  of  the 
method  that  has  been  used  with  success  in  the  work  with  indi- 
vidual cases  and  later  with  classes. 

The  method  will  be  described  according  to  the  following  out- 
line : 

1.  Imagery  tests. 

2.  Teaching  of  words. 

(a)  Phonetic  words. 

(b)  Nonphonetic  or  partly  nonphonetic  words. 

I.     Imagery  Tests. 

In  grades  above  the  second,  the  imagery  tests  described  on 
page  5  are  given  to  the  child  or  the  class,  as  the  case  may  be. 
The  problem  of  imagery  is  next  discussed  with  the  children. 
This  step  can  not  be  too  much  emphasized. 

The  point  is  not  that  the  teacher  shall  discover  hoiv  the  child 
thinks,  hut  tliat  the  child  shall  discover  the  nature  of  his  own 


(9) 


iiirntal  processes,  and  Icarn  to  Iiold  the  image  of  tJic  zoord, 
zvlwtci'cr  its  form  may  he.  until  he  has  expressed  it  in  writing. 
If  the  child  lias  a  visual  image  of  the  word,  it  is  not  at  all 
important  that  the  teacher  should  know  this;  but  it  is  very 
important  that  the  child  shall  focus  his  attentipn  on  the  word 
until  his  visual  image  is  clear  in  every  detail,  ^nd  that  he  shall 
keep  his  attention  on  the  image  until  the  word  has  beeft  written. 
In  the  same  way  the  child  must  learn  to  form  a  clear  auditory 
image  if  he  is  of  the  auditory  type,  and  to  hold  the  sound  image 
until  the  word  has  been  written.  The  same  principle  will  hold 
in  the  case  of  the  auditory  motor  child. 

One  matter  of  surprise  to  the  writer  is  that  children  get  the 
idea  almost  more  quickly  than  do  adults.  There  is  no  question 
but  that  our  third  grade  children  have  learned  which  type  of 
image  they  get  most  clearly,  and  are  studying  words  according 
to  their  own  individual  types  with  phenomenally  good  results. 

After  the  imagery  tests  have  been  given  and  the  children 
have  worked  out  the  problem  of  their  individual  imagery  types, 
the  study  is  turned  to  words.  The  children  are  shown  that 
they  must  either  see  or  hear  the  words  "in  their  minds"  in 
order  to  remember  them. 

2.     Teaching  of  Words. 

I.  Phonetic  words.  In  teaching  a  given  phonetic  word  the 
following  order  is  observed : 

(i)  The  teacher  writes  the  word  on  the  board,  pronouncing 
it  as  she  writes  it. 

(2)  The  children  pronounce  the  word  after  the  teacher. 

(3)  The  children  pronounce  the  word  slowly,  looking  at  the 
written  word  to  see  if  it  is  spelled  as  it  is  pronounced.    While 

/  they  pronounce  the  word  the  second  time,  lines  may  be  drawn 
between  the  syllables  as  the  children  say  them,  so  that  the  word 
is  divided  into  convenient  sound  units. 

(4)  The  children  are  asked  to  shut  their  eyes,  and  see  how 
many  of  them  can  form  a  picture  of  the  word  in  their  minds. 
If  they  can  not  form  a  picture,  or  if  the  picture  is  not  plain 
enough  to  give  them  all  the  letters  of  the  word,  they  are  told 
to  say  the  word  over  to  themselves  and  to  be  sure  they  hear 
every  sound  very  plainly.  The  general  consensus  of  the  report 
from  our  visual  students  is  that  this  process  of  saying  the  word 
clarifies  the  visual  image. 

(10) 


/ 


(5)  The  word  is  erased. 

(6)  Each  child  says  the  zuord  slowly,  zvith  lip  movement,  to 
himself  and  writes  it  as  he  says  it.  This  last  step  must  not  be 
omitted  under  any  circumstances.  The  whole  point  of  the 
work  is  to  make  the  process  of  waiting  the  word  habitual.  All 
habits  originate  in  conscious  activity,  but  depend  as  much  upon 
the  proper  expression  of  the  idea  as  upon  its  clearness. 

(7)  The  entire  list  of  words  is  written  from  dictation,  the 
next  day,  great  care  being  taken  that  each  child  pronounces  the 
word  as  he  writes  it. 

(8)  All  misspelled  words  are  learned  again  by  the  class. 
An   example   of   the   process  just   described   will   make   the 

method  clearer.  In  teaching  the  word  "important,"  the  word 
as  a  whole  would  first  be  written  on  the  board  by  the  teacher. 
She  would  pronounce  the  word  carefully.  The  children  would 
pronounce  it  after  her.  The  children  would  then  pronounce 
the  word  slowly  by  syllables  while  the  teacher  marked  off  the 
syllables,  im/por/tant.  There  is  no  sound  in  the  word  that  the 
children  have  not  already  learned.  They  shut  their  eyes,  and 
the  visual  children  make  sure  that  they  have  a  clear  visual 
image,  while  the  auditory  children  fix  the  auditory  image  by 
saying  the  word  over  to  themselves.  The  children  then  write 
the  word,  pronouncing  each  syllable  as  they  write  it. 

2.     Nonphonctic  Words  or  Parts  of  Words. 

Most  words  are  partly  phonetic,  and  for  all  phonetic  parts  of 
words  the  method  just  described  should  be  used.  This  leaves 
only  the  nonphonetic  parts  of  words  to  be  learned  by  the  child 
after  he  has  mastered  the  simple  letter  combinations  in  phonics, 
or  even  in  the  very  process  of  learning  a  reasonable  number  of 
words.  C-o-n  is  con,  and  if  the  child  has  once  learned  it, 
either  as  a  phonogram  or  as  a  part  of  any  word,  he  should  not 
have  to  learn  it  over  again  in  a  word  like  conscientious  just 
because  a  part  of  the  word  is  nonphonetic.  It  is  astonishing 
how  much  of  the  English  language  the  child  learns  in  the  first 
grade,  and  how  little  we  use  this  in  teaching  him  the  separate 
words  of  his  later  school  course. 

The  problem  of  learning  tlie  nonphonetic  parts  of  words  is 
not  particularly  difficult  for  the  visual  child.  He  simply  has  to 
be  sure  that  he  has  formed  a  clear  visual  image  of  the  difficult 
part  of  the  word.     He  seems  to  do  this  very  readily. 

(11) 


The  problem  for  the  auditory  child  is  a  very  different  one. 
As  he  can  not  visualize  the  word,  it  is  necessary  that  he  form 
some   sort   of   image   of   the   nonphonetic   parts   of   the   word. 
When  children  have  once  learned  that  they  think  in  terms  of 
auditory  images,  they  invent  very  ingenious  ways  of  working 
out  such  images.     It  is  perhaps  as  difficult  for  the  thoroughly 
visual  person  to  understand  the  ease  with  which  one  manipu- 
lates the  auditory  image  as  it  is   for  the  auditory  person  to 
understand  the  ready  recall  of  the  visual  image.     Instead  of 
saying   each    separate    letter,    the    child    says    the   letter    com- 
binations just  as  they  occur  in  the  word,  and  writes  the  word 
as  he  says  the  parts.     For  example,  he  would  not  spell  out 
W-e-d-n-e-s-d-a-y,  but  would  say  the  word  first  as  it  is  pro- 
nounced and  then  as  it  is  spelled,  the  latter  being  "Wed-nes- 
day."     As  he  writes  the  word  he  simply  repeats  these  three 
sounds,  "Wed,"  "nes"  and  "day."     Thus  he  learns  only  three 
elements  instead  of  nine.     It  is  obviously  as  correct  to  represent 
the  word  by  the  three  auditory  elements,  "Wed,"  "nes"  and 
"day"  as  by  the  nine  letters,  W-e-d-n-e-s-d-a-y.     In  the  same 
way,  "business"  would  be  pronounced  correctly,  and  then,  for 
spelling,  bus-i-ness.     The  "u"  will  have  to  be  fixed  either  by  an 
auditory  or  a  visual  image.     Many  children  simply  say  it  broad 
"u"  for  spelling  purposes.     The  nonphonetic  part  of  the  word 
may  be  spelled  letter  by  letter  if  necessary,  but  the  child  must 
not  spell  other  parts  of  the  word. 

The  steps  in  learning  a  word  which  is  partly  nonphonetic 
would  be  as  follows:  (i)  The  teacher  writes  the  word. 
(2)  The  teacher  pronounces  the  word.  (3)  The  children 
pronounce  the  word.  (4)  The  children  say  the  word  slowly 
as  the  teacher  marks  off  the  syllables.  This  makes  the  non- 
phonetic parts  of  the  word  obvious.  (5)  The  nonphonetic 
parts  of  the  word  are  underlined. 1  (6)  The  children  form  a 
clear  auditory  or  visual  image  of  the  difficult  part  of  the  word. 

(7)  The  children  repeat  the  word  to  themselves,  making  sure 
that  the   recall   image   is   clear   for   every   part   of   the   word. 

(8)  The  word  is  erased.     (9)   The  children  write  the  word, 
saying  it  as  they  write  it. 

In  teaching  the  word  "conscientious,"  the  teacher  would  first 
write  the  word  and  then  pronounce  it.  The  children  would 
pronounce  the  word  once  after  the  teacher,  and  then  again 
slowly  as  the  teacher  marked  off  the  syllables  con/sci/en/tious. 

(12) 


The  con  does  not  need  to  be  learned.  The  set  is  obviously  not 
written  as  it  is  pronounced.  Bn  is  perfectly  familiar,  and  the 
children  have  already  had  the  ending  Hous  and  cious,  so  that 
the  only  point  they  have  to  remember  is  the  f.  Thus  we  find 
that  in  this  seemingly  difficult  word  there  axe  only  two  ele- 
ments, sci  and  t  which  have  not  already  been  learned  in  simpler 
combinations.  Each  child  must  be  sure  that  he  can  pronounce 
the  zi'ord,  and  then  he  must  fix  the  two  difficult  parts.  Most 
.  children  will  say  s-ci,  simply  giving  the  sound  of  the  letters, 
though  some  children  always  spell  out  the  three  letters  in  writ- 
ing the  word.  The  t  gives  no  trouble,  as  the  visual  child  forms 
a  visual  image  of  it,  and  the  auditory  child  hears  the  little  click 
of  the  t  as  distinguished  from  c,  when  he  says  the  word  to  him- 
self for  spelling  purposes. 

IV.     General  conclusion. 

In  conclusion,  the  writer  wishes  to  emphasize  a  few  points 
that  greatly  improve  the  conditions  of  learning  a  word. 

1.  The  teacher  should  discover  her  poor  spellers  as  soon  as 
possible,  so  that  she  may  be  able  to  give  them  special  attention 
until  the  new  habits  of  spelling  are  formed.     For  this  purpose.  •  * 
the  Rice  test  given  on  page  15  is  excellent. 

2.  The  work  will  go  slowly  at  first,  particularly.  \^  the  chil- 
dren have  the  habit  of  learning  word-S;^lctter''"by  letter.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  work  they-^sTiould  never  be  hurried.  The 
auditory  child  "goes  to  "pieces"  if  he  is  not  allowed  sufficient 
time  to  work-out -his  imagery  process.  It  usually  takes  about  a 
month  iSr  the  children  to  become  accustomed  to  the  new 
method.  Then  the  work  goes  more  rapidly  than  by  the  old 
method,  as  each  child  uses  all  his  knowledge  of  letter  combina- 
tions in  learning  each  new  word.  The  important  thing  is  not  I 
that  the  child  cover  a  given  niunber  of  words  in  a  set  time  but  ( 
that  .he  really  learn  whatever  words  he  studies. 

3.  The  teacher  must  make  sure  that  the  children  study...,.-^ 
according  to  the  plan.  This  is  particularly  important  if  t]|e 
children  have  ever  formed  the  habit  of  learning  words  letter  by 
letter.  The  teacher  may  present  the  words  perfectly  and  the 
child  continue  to  say. the  letters  over  and  over  to  himself  in 
learning  the  word.  It  is  usually  possible  to  determine  what 
method  the  child  is  using  by  observing  his  lips.  The  auditory 
child  almost  always  makes  marked  lip  movements  which  are 

(13) 


noticeably  different  when  he  is  saying  the  letters  and  when  he 
is  saying  the  syllables.  Individual  work  may  be  necessary  for 
a  few  moments  a  day  to  start  the  correct  habits. 

4.  If  the  chilcl  is  a  very  poor  speller  and  studies  his  words  at 
home,  the  parents  should  see  that  he  does  not  use  letter-by- 
letter  spelling  there.  Otherwise  the  home  study  will  do  more 
harm  than  good. 

5.  The  ultimate  end  in  the  teaching  of  spelling  is  to  make  the 
correct  writing  of  the  zvord  habitual.  Consequently  the  child 
should  learn  words  in  common  use  and  have  opportunity  to  use 
them  until  the  habit  has  been  formed.  Every  time  the  child 
writes  a  word  correctly  the  habit  becomes  more  fixed  and  the 
process  becomes  more  nearly  automatic. 

6.  Every  time  a  child  zvrites  a  word  incorrectly,  a  bad  habit 
is  started  or  fixed.  Consequently  the  child  should  be  encour- 
aged to  look  up  in  the  dictionary  any  words  of  which  he  is  not 
sure,  or,  when  this  is  not  possible,  to  ask  for  the  spelling.  He 
should  always  be  allowed  to  take  time  to  fix  the  correct  image 
of  the  word  and  should  ivrite  the  word  from  this  image  rather 
than  copy  it  from  the  dictionary  or  the  blackboard. 

7.  Words  should  be  taught  in  context,  at  least  in  all  the 
upjKT  grades.  If  we  taught  spelling  adequately  in  the  lower 
grades,  the  child  above  the  sixth  grade  would  not  need  spelling 
instruction  as  such.  He  would  know  how  to  study  words,  and 
would  simply  look  them  up  and  fix  them  whenever  his  work 
required  the  use  of  an  unfamiliar  word.  It  is  to  be  remem- 
bered that  little  children  are  more  interested  in  pure  mechan- 
ical adjustments  than  are  adults.  Consequently  the  little  child 
enjoys  the  mere  process  of  learning  to  write  words  as  the  older 
child  does  not.  The  older  child,  if  he  has  been  properly  taught, 
will  demand  some  reason  beyond  the  mere  present  writing  of 
the  word. 

8.  In  the  upper  grades,  it  seems  to  the  writer  that  the  spell- 
ing book  should  give  way  to  the  dictionary.  A  child  can  not 
find  a  word  he  needs  in  a  speller,  but  he  soon  forms  the  habit 
of  looking  up  and  learning  the  words  he  uses  if  he  is  supplied 
with  a  dictionary.  Many  of  our  schools  give  the  child  a  speller 
but  no  dictionary,  or,  at  best,  have  one  large  dictionary  avail- 
able, the  frequent  and  too  spontaneous  use  of  which  is  con- 
sidered a  sign  of  natural  depravity. 


(14) 


g.  Finally,  if  it  is  desired  to  continue  the  old  fashioned  spell- 
ing match,  this  can  be  conducted  as  a  written  rather  than  as  an 
oral  exercise.  Sides  are  chosen  as  usual,  but  each  child  runs 
to  the  board  and  writes  the  word  when  his  turn  comes.  If  the 
word  is  written  incorrectly,  it  is  erased,  another  child  comes  to 
the  board,  and  the  child  who  wrote  it  is  out.  It  is  true  that 
the  best  natural  spellers  in  the  class  will  prefer  the  oral  method, 
because  of  the  opportunity  it  gives  them  to  show  their  ability, 
but  the  written  method  is  fairer  to  the  class  as  a  whole  and  is 
soon  accepted  and  used  with  as  much  zest  as  the  older  method. 
Children  who  have  learned  to  spell  from  the  second  or  third 
grade  without  oral  work  have  fully  as  exciting  matches  as  one 
could  wish. 

In  closing,  we  wish  to  say  that  we  are  at  present  working 
with  certain  cases  which  ofTer  an  exception  to  the  more  com- 
mon type  of  poor  speller.  The  statement  of  our  results  is  too 
complicated  to  be  included  in  this  paper,  but  will  be  given  in  a 
later  monograph.  We  have,  so  far,  found  no  exception  to  the 
general  statement  that  the  problem  of  spelling  is  essentially  an 
imagery  problem. 

The  Rice  Test. 

While  running  he  slipped.  I  listened  to  his  queer  speech,  but 
I  did  not  believe  any  of  it.  The  zveather  is  changeable.  His 
loud  zvhistling  frightened  me.  He  is  always  changing  his 
mind.  His  chain  zvas  loose.  She  was  baking  a  cake.  I  have 
a  piece  of  it.  Did  you  receive  my  letter?  I  heard  the  laughter 
in  the  distance.  Why  did  you  choose  that  strange  picture? 
(Because  I  thought  I  liked  it.)  It  is  my  purpose  to  learn.^ 
Did  you  lose  your  almanac f  I  gave  it  to  my  neighbor.  (I  was 
writing  in  my  language ^odk.)  Some  children  are  not  careful 
enough.  Was  it  necessary  to  keep  me  waiting  so  long?  Do 
not  disappoint  me  so  often.  I  have  covered  the  mi.vture.  He 
is  getting  better.  (A  feather  is  light.)  Do  you  deceive  me? 
I  am  driving  a  new  horse.  (Is  the  surface  of  your  desk  rough 
or  smooth?)  The  children  were  hopping.'''  This  is  certainly 
true.  I  was  very  grateful  for  my  elegant  present.  If  we  have 
patience   we   shall  succeed.     He   met   with   a  severe  accident. 


*In  grades  under  the  sixth  the  sentences  arc  given  with  no  omissions  through 
"The  children  are  hopping."  In  grades  above  the  fifth  all  the  sentences  except 
those  'inclosed   in   parentheses  are   used. 


(15) 


Sometimes  children  are  not  sensible.  You  had  no  business  to 
anszver  him.  You  are  not  szveeping  properly.  I  am  very 
anxious  to  hear  the  news.  Your  reading  shows  improvement. 
The  ride  was  very  fatiguing.  I  appreciate  your  kindness,  I 
assure  you.  I  can  not  imagine  a  more  peeuliar  character.  I 
guarantee  the  book  will  meet  with  your  approval.  Intelligent 
persons  learn  by  experience.  The  peach  is  delicious.  I  realise 
the  importance  of  the  occasion.  Every  rule  has  exceptions. 
He  is  thoroughly  conscientious,  therefore  I  do  trust  him.  The 
elevator  is  ascending.     Too  much  praise  is  not  wholesome. 


(16) 


EDITORIALS. 

A  Pedagogical  Spelling  Suggestion, 
lu  order  to  avoid  the  waste  of  drilling  good  spellers  for  the 
benefit  of  a  few  poor  spellers,  and  to  more  adequately  recognize 
the  fact  that  the  words  we  need  to  spell  are  those  which  belong 
to  the  somewhat  limited  vocabulary  we  use  in  writing,  the 
following  scheme  has  been  found  of  particular  benefit  to  chil- 
dren in  the  fourth  and  fifth  grades,  and  even  in  higher  grades 
where  the  spelling  has  not  been  correctly  taught  before.  Each 
pupil  constructs  from  scratch  paper  or  fool's-cap  a  small 
twenty-six  page  book — perhaps  being  bound  together  only  with 
a  pin.  These  pages  are  alphabetically  indexed,  and  upon  the 
appropriate  page  must  be  correctly  entered  the  words  mis- 
spelled by  the  child  in  his  own  written  work.  When  the  hour 
for  spelhng  arrives,  instead  of  assigning  lessons  from  the  spell- 
ing book  or  blackboard  list,  the  teacher  demands  from  each 
individual  his  "Spelling  Dictionary."  A  rapid  examination 
shows  that  this  pupil  requires  little  or  no  attention  to  her  spell- 
ing, while  the  next  pupil  has  literally  covered  his  little  book 
with  words.  The  time  may  be  concentrated  upon  the  poor 
speller  while  the  other's  time  may  be  used  to  better  advantage. 
The  use  of  the  notebook  as  an  incentive  is  greatly  increased  by 
its  temporary  nature,  which  permits  of  its  frequent  destruction 
and  the  starting  of  a  new  book  with  clean  pages.  This  pre- 
vents undue  discouragement  and  serves  regularly  as  a  stimulus 
for  better  work. 


The  Los  Angeles  State  Normal  School  has  begun  its  work 
of  greater  usefulness  in  the  educational  world  by  the  establish- 
ment of  Saturday  classes  for  the  benefit  of  teachers  who  are 
engaged  during  the  week.  Two  hundred  and  ten  students  have 
enrolled  since  the  beginning  date,  October  i6th.  The  second 
term  of  thirteen  weeks  will  open  in  February,  and  requests  for 
the  establishment  of  particular  classes  will  be  gladly  received. 
They  should  be  addressed  to  the  Dean  of  the  Extension  Depart- 
ment. 

(17) 


UNIVERSITY  or  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


Form  L9-Series  444 


(18) 


viwvfMVll,    \.ailT. 


AA    000 


